MMDA won’t enforce ‘no registration, no travel’

MANILA, Philippines - Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino said the agency is not inclined to enforce the Land Transportation Office (LTO) policy of “no plate, no travel” that began yesterday.

He said the MMDA and the 17 local government units of Metro Manila are unlikely to apprehend violators of the LTO order because it is “ill-timed and restricts the timely observance of Filipino religious tradition.”

Tolentino said what the LTO is doing might be unconstitutional, considering that it deprives an individual of the right to use his own property without due process of law.

He said the MMDA would send a letter to the LTO to convince agency officials to reconsider the implementation of the policy, which he said is not only untimely but also “un-Christian” with the observance of Holy Week when many motorists are en route to various provinces.

“LTO should at least consider that it’s Holy Week now and we should help our countrymen and their families to travel to the provinces, before the policy was enforced,” Tolentino said in a statement.

Tolentino added that a majority of motorists should not be blamed for buying new cars that until now are waiting for the release of their license plates from the LTO.

“They should not be penalized for not having their license plates on time, they already have their conduction stickers. They are paying their monthly amortizations and have no deliberate intention to violate the law,” he said.

“In fact, at this time of the year, we need to freely move people, especially now that there is shortage of provincial buses, we must also consider the forthcoming arrival of Super Typhoon Chedeng, we must move people immediately out of harm’s way utilizing safe vehicles,” Tolentino added.

President Aquino said motorists whose registration papers are in order should have no problems traveling.

“Just because you have no plate doesn’t mean you will automatically be arrested; you just have to show your OR or CR (registration documents),” Aquino said in Filipino when interviewed at the Batangas City pier yesterday.

CR refers to certificate of registration while OR pertains to the official receipt which confirms that a motorist has paid in full all the necessary and attendant fees in buying a new car or renewing its annual registration.

What the government is doing now is “fine-tuning” the LTO order regarding the “no registration, no travel” policy which Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya clarified to the public.

It has been the impression that LTO started its “no plate, no travel” policy yesterday.

“Well, just to clarify, it is not ‘no plate, no travel;’ it is a ‘no registration, no travel’ policy. Because we are just bringing back the enforcement of the law. No unregistered vehicle should be plying our streets,” Abaya said.

The DOTC chief, who has supervisory powers over the LTO, said they have admitted they were to blame for the backlog, but pointed out this has been resolved and thus should not be a reason to harass motorists.

Abaya called on car dealers to get the new plates from the LTO to prevent hassles.

“They (motorists) have been getting their plates,” Abaya said.

The LTO challenged critics to question its “no registration, no travel” policy before a court if they think it is unconstitutional.

LTO chief Alfonso Tan said that the policy is a law that requires motorists to register their vehicles before they could be used in the country.

He said that only a court could stop the LTO from implementing the law, adding that the agency is just complying with what the law dictates.

“It’s not a policy. It’s a law. It is stated in the law that if your car is not registered, you are not allowed to use it. We are just following the law,” he told The STAR.

Tan said that if the MMDA and the 17 local governments will not comply, it is already beyond the control of the LTO.

He said that LTO’s trained enforcers and deputized agents that include policemen would continue to apprehend motorists that do not have license plates on their vehicles.

Tan also cited that their office has issued advisories that their deputized agents and enforcers are allowed to apprehend erring motorists starting April 1.

Citing the joint administrative order of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the LTO, Tan said that vehicle owners who defy the law will pay a fine of P10,000 while apprehended drivers would pay P1,000.

He, however, said that motorists who will be able to present the official receipt or certificate of registration will be fined P5,000 for failure to put their license plates on their car. 

 LTO spokesman Jason Salvador said that the agency had actually delayed implementation of the law, citing that it should have been done last August. – With Robertzon Ramirez